Alex Zanardi Believes Ferrari And Vettel’s Title Charge Are Over

Sebastian Vettel and Scuderia Ferrari‘s title aspirations are now over according to former F1 driver, Alex Zanardi.

The Italian team were favourites to win the Singapore Grand Prix, but were left short when Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport‘s Lewis Hamilton clinched pole position and the win, extending his lead in the championship by forty points to Vettel.

Ferrari made an aggressive strategy call during the race with an undercut, in a bid to jump Hamilton for the lead. But the plan failed when both Hamilton and Max Verstappen managed to surpass Vettel in the pit stops.

With six rounds left in the 2018 Formula 1 season, Vettel’s aspirations for a fifth world championship are now becoming thin but still have a mathematical chance of winning the title.

Ex-Formula 1 and IndyCar driver Alex Zanardi told La Gazzetta dello Sport, believing Ferrari had the best car, but ‘everything changed’ when the result came at Singapore.

“It was only one race, but it reflected the state of affairs of this season. After Monza everyone had the impression that a victory would put things right again,” said Zanardi.

“But Lewis drove everyone into the ground with a perfect, almost poetic performance.

“You could see on Seb’s face that the balance of power has changed. In pure mathematics, Ferrari can keep believing. But more realistically is that Hamilton is the one who is dominating.”

La Gazzetta dello Sport added “Goodbye to the Vettel title. It’s similar to last year, except even more sad now because Ferrari has had the best car. But not the best driver.”

The Italian media have criticised the team and the German driver claiming their charge is now over, with headlines such as “the end of the championship” from La Repubblica.